Yesterday in the House of Lords, the government won two divisions by large majorities, one in normal business hours and one late (almost 11 o’clock). Of course I am happy about that — being a government backbencher, and wanting to see the Academies Bill go through without trouble — but if this is a pattern…
The principal justification for the House of Lords’ existence is the careful and experienced scrutiny of legislation. Making lots of small improvements – not the sculptors of legislation, but the ones who do the polishing. The one that I am proudest of is helping add “an apology, an offer of treatment or other redress, shall…
Some schadenfreude watching the quarrels of IPSA (the new Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) and MPs, tempered by the knowledge that IPSA wants to gets its teeth into us too. Many quangos end up bloated and self satisfied, but two weeks after birth is something of a record. IPSA does not need a full time chief…
The BBC says that we are to have full Lords reform early in the session, with a move to complete proportional representation.If that turns out to be the case, I think that we should welcome it. Our political representation is almost PR as it is. We’re used to minority parties – we’ve had Plaid and…
We plough throug about 6 inches of secondary legislation a week, none thicker than the Air Navigation Order 2009, at about 400 pages. Clause 166 at the top of page 81 reads: A person must not cause or permit any animal (whether or not attached to a parachute) to be dropped from a small unmanned…
